“What will they do with the baby?” She stared straight ahead, not meeting his gaze.
“The halfling?”
“If it’s an infant, I…” She shook her head.
“By the time they get it back here, it’ll be a child. Halflings grow exponentially, reaching full size in a few days.”
“A child.” She still wouldn’t look at him.
“It may look like a child, but he’ll be pure evil. Trust me. The spirit you’re going to capture started out the same way. And it’s already killed the woman who gave birth to it.”
She nodded.
He rubbed his hand in circles on her back, trying to reassure her, and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Her hair smelled like strawberries. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, his pulse quickening, his chest aching at how perfect she felt in his arms.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
His breath hitched, his stomach fluttering like a thousand butterflies emerging from their cocoons. “I’ve been lost without you, Macey.”
She pulled away and looked at him. A sadness filled her eyes that he didn’t understand. He was hers if she wanted him. Why wouldn’t she let him in?
He cupped her face in his hand, running his thumb across her soft skin. “After this is over, can we give it another try? Can we give us another try?”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Luke, I—” She stiffened, her eyes growing wide with fear. “He’s here.”
Chapter Thirty
Jimmy just had to act natural. Pretend like everything was normal and go along with whatever Ross wanted. That’s what Miss Macey had said to do. He stopped pacing to stare out the window. She said she’d be out there somewhere, and she’d come in to help him as soon as she could.
Footsteps sounded on the front porch, making Jimmy’s heart beat like a racehorse. Was she here? Had she come to save him early? “Mi—” He slapped his hand over his mouth. The boy stepped inside, followed by another boy. This one looked like he was five years old, but Jimmy knew better. He still had blood on his face from eating his momma.
Jimmy shuddered. If the boys were here, his brother must’ve been close by. Sweat rolled down his back, making his shirt stick to his skin. He shivered. Where was Miss Macey?
“Are you ready, dimwit?”
The voice snaked around him, slithering into his head. Jimmy swallowed down the sour taste in his mouth and nodded. “I guess so.”
Bam! The blow to his head caught Jimmy off guard, and he stumbled into the altar. His face stung where Ross’s spirit hit him. What if Ross hit Miss Macey?
“You guess so? Don’t make me use up all my strength keeping you in line, idiot. We’ve got a lot to do tonight.”
“Okay.”
The boy and the little boy sat on Jimmy’s futon. Something burned inside him. He ground his teeth, and his body tensed as he glared at them. But he would have a bed to sleep in tonight. Miss Macey promised. How would she fight Ross when she couldn’t touch him but he could touch her? It wasn’t fair.
Jimmy had an idea. His tummy did a little flip inside him, and he smiled.
“What are you so happy about?”
“I don’t want to raise any demons.”
This time the blow came to his stomach. He doubled over, clutching his middle, but he still smiled. If he could get Ross to use up all his energy now, he wouldn’t be able to hurt Miss Macey or her friends.
“You’ll do what I tell you to, you moron. Now pick up the knife and get busy.”
“No.” He braced himself for another beating, but it didn’t come. An icy snake slithered up his body and whispered in his ear.
“What are you doing brother? You’re acting suspicious.”
“N…nothing. I just don’t want to raise no more demons.” His knees trembled, so he put his hand on the altar to hold himself steady.
A loud bang sounded in the swamp, and he jerked his head toward the sound. That was the signal. The boys were supposed to run outside to see what it was, and then the werewolves would get them. But the boys didn’t move from Jimmy’s futon.
“What was that?” Jimmy said. “M…maybe the boy and the little boy should go check.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Does it hurt your little feelings to see them sitting there? Or is something else going on? What are you scheming?”
“I’m not scheming n…nothing.”
“You know I can get inside your head and see for myself, so you might as well tell me.”
Jimmy clamped his mouth shut. He was a stupid idiot. He should have gone along with Ross’s plans like Miss Macey had told him to do. Good ideas never popped into his head. Only bad ones. He was a moron. Now what was Miss Macey going to do? She couldn’t fight Ross and the boys at the same time.
“Why can’t you follow orders like the boy there? If you weren’t so easy to possess, I’d have let him eat you a long time ago.”
Jimmy’s whole body trembled. He didn’t want to get eaten. “I’m sorry, Ross. Please don’t let him eat me.”
A million tiny razor blades sliced through Jimmy’s skin as Ross pushed his spirit inside him. He wanted to collapse to the floor and cry, but he couldn’t control his own muscles anymore. He could feel his brother prodding through his brain, sifting through his memories like someone panning for gold. Jimmy tried not to think about anything, but he couldn’t get the image of Miss Macey’s face to go away. And thoughts of Miss Macey led to thoughts of her friends, and before he knew it, he’d spilled the whole plan.
“Werewolves?” Ross growled the words with Jimmy’s mouth. “You’re friends with werewolves now?”
Ross ripped himself from his brother’s body, and Jimmy crumpled to the floor. He gasped for breath and rocked back and forth on the hard linoleum. What had he done? He was such a stupid idiot.
“Thanks for bringing them here, brother. We’re on my turf now. Killing them all will be fun.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Goddammit. They aren’t moving.” I knew this wouldn’t work. Luke refrained from saying the last part out loud for fear of alienating Macey more. But, damn it, they couldn’t depend on that guy. “He must’ve told them the plan.”
“It’s not his fault,” Macey said. “You saw how his eyes glowed for a few minutes. The spirit possessed him. Maybe he can read his mind while he’s in there.”
“Could he read your mind?” Alexis leaned against a tree a few yards away.
“I don’t think so. I forced him out as soon as he got in.”
“Whatever the method, he spilled the plan,” Luke said.
She crossed her arms. “It wasn’t his fault.”
“Why do you keep defending him?”
“He needs help.”
Luke took a deep breath and chose his words carefully. “If it comes down to your life or his…”
“I know. But it won’t.”
“So,” Alexis said. “What do we do now?”
Luke signaled the rest of his team to join them, and the men approached in human form. They’d lost the element of surprise, but they outnumbered them. “Looks like we’re going to have to bust in with our teeth bared. You guys take out the halflings; we’ll get the spirit.”
“What about the halflings’ spirits?” Alexis asked. “Won’t they be set free like Jimmy’s brother?”
“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “They’re too young. Not strong enough. As long as you decapitate the bodies, they shouldn’t be a problem anymore.” He turned to Macey. “You’ve got your gun. My teeth and claws are my weapons.”
“I understand. If you think you need to shift…”
He took her hand and led her away from the pack. “Listen, Macey.” He lowered his voice so only she could hear. “If anything happens in there…and we need to get away fast…I want you to climb on my back, and we’ll run.”
“I can run.”
“Werewolves are faster. Please. Promise me?�
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A sly grin curved her lips. “You want me to ride you?”
“Every day of my life.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her. Firmly. With purpose. If she wouldn’t let him tell her how he felt, he was going to show her. At first, she stiffened, but she didn’t pull away. Her body relaxed, her lips softening to accept him. Hope bloomed in his core, and he held on to it. When this was over, she would be his.
Macey’s head spun from the kiss as she tromped through the brush toward the shack. Her body had reacted against her will, reciprocating the passion. She hadn’t had time to consider the consequences letting him back in might bring, and she didn’t have time to think about it now. She pushed those emotions aside and followed the pack of wolves as they stalked the demons.
They were all huge, but Luke outweighed them by at least fifty pounds. He stayed close, on her left side, while Alexis flanked her on the right. Her sister may have been the smallest, but she’d seen her fight a demon. Alexis was just as strong as the others. Chase had brown fur, and James was a dappled gray. Stephen’s fur was also gray, but so dark it seemed almost black.
An icy chill crept up Macey’s spine, raising goose bumps on the back of her neck. A sharp prickling sensation pressed into her skin, and she froze. The demon was trying to enter her. She pushed back, slamming down the iron curtain of her will, forcing the demon away. “Nice try.”
“It was worth a shot.” The voice swirled around her head. “It would’ve been fun to make you kill your friends. I’ll still enjoy watching my boys do it.”
The halflings stepped out of the shack. The bigger one dragged Jimmy through the door and shoved him off the porch. The wolves fanned out to face them, but Luke stayed glued by her side.
Tears streamed down Jimmy’s face. “I’m sorry, Miss Macey. Please don’t let your friends eat me.”
“No one’s going to hurt you, Jimmy.”
“Get them!”
On the spirit’s command, the halflings hurled themselves at the wolves. The small one carried a knife, and he stabbed it into the brown wolf’s shoulder. Chase yelped, and James’s jaws clamped down on the halfling’s neck. The knife fell to the ground as the boy went limp.
It was a demon. Not a boy. Macey had to remind herself she wasn’t witnessing a child’s death. The older halfling darted into the trees, and Chase and James tore off after it. Stephen lingered for a moment, his fiery gaze boring into Luke, before running after the others. Jimmy dropped to his knees, cowering in the dirt, and covered his face with his arms.
“Your wolves are making my life difficult. Time to get rid of your sister.”
Before Macey could react, a log flew through the air, pummeling toward Alexis. It collided with her head, splitting in two with a horrendous crack. Her massive body crashed to the Earth, and dark red blood matted in her sandy fur.
“Alexis!” Macey rushed to her sister, dropping to her knees at her side. She laid her head against the wolf’s chest. Relief washed through her at the gentle rise and fall of her ribcage.
“Now that she’s out of the way, I can deal with you.”
Macey shot to her feet and whirled around at the voice. Luke growled, his gaze darting about as he searched for the demon. Jimmy curled into a ball in the dirt and sobbed.
Anger lit a fire in the pit of her stomach, and she burned to destroy the demon. With one hand on the crystal in her messenger bag, she reached out with her mind. At first she felt only the emptiness of the crystal, a black hole devoid of energy. When she read objects, the energy came to her. Now she had to search for it in the atmosphere. Do the process in reverse.
She tore her focus away from the crystal and sifted through the air around her, like fanning the pages of a book. The demon was here somewhere. She could sense his presence, even in his silence. A fleeting tingle tickled her senses, and she reached for it with her mind. The spirit sifted through her fingers like sand through a sieve.
Alexis whimpered, her body shifting to human form. Luke prowled around her, his gaze darting from the trees to Jimmy and back again. Dried leaves crunched under his paws. A heron squawked from above.
She shook her head. Focus, Macey. You can do this. She reached out again and grabbed hold of the ghost, pulling with all her might. If she could hold on long enough, she could transfer its energy into the crystal and trap it inside. But her feeble attempt at catching the spirit failed. It slipped from her grasp and floated away laughing.
“You’ve learned a thing or two since we last met. So have I.”
A gush of frigid air blasted past her, slamming into Jimmy. He rolled onto his back, a strained groan filtering through his clenched teeth. His body stiffened like a rod and went slack. His entire demeanor changed as Ross took over his form. He rose to his feet, standing tall with his shoulders back, chest proud. He strolled toward her, a confident gait replacing Jimmy’s awkward walk. A ring of crimson glowed around his chocolate irises.
Luke lowered his head and bared his teeth, inching closer to Macey. She raised her gun.
“You won’t shoot me.” Jimmy’s voice was confident. Not his own. “You promised to help my brother. To give him a real bed to sleep in.”
Macey’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh, yeah. I can hear his thoughts. He thinks you’re going to be his new mommy.” Ross laughed. “But that’s not what you had in mind, was it, bitch?”
Luke growled, rocking back on his haunches, preparing to launch himself.
“Don’t,” Macey whispered. “Don’t hurt Jimmy.”
“Don’t hurt Jimmy,” Ross said in a mocking tone. “Go ahead and kill him. It won’t hurt me.”
He was right. If she shot him again, or if Luke attacked, they’d only be hurting Jimmy. Ross could leave his body as quickly as he’d entered it, and then what? Could Macey grab his spirit and force him into the crystal? She’d never been able to grasp free-floating energy. But she could pull it out of an object. Maybe even out of a human. She needed to keep Ross just where he was.
“Come on, wolf man. Let’s see what you’re made of.” Ross taunted Luke, feigning attacks left and right and then slipping away before getting within arm’s reach. “No? You don’t want a piece of me? How about if I take a piece of your girl?”
He lunged at her, knocking the gun from her hand. Before she could react, he gripped her neck and slammed her into the ground. The air whooshed from her lungs. She gasped for breath and clawed at his hands pressing against her trachea. Not this again. Lacing her arms between his, she scratched at his neck, prying his hands apart with her forearms. She would not let him hurt her again.
Luke barreled into him, sending him flying off her and into a tree. The rotted trunk split with the impact, and Jimmy’s body slid to the ground. Luke pinned him down with his paws and snarled in his face.
“Don’t hurt him!” She forced the raspy words through her bruised throat.
Ross laughed hysterically. “Jimmy is so scared right now. If you could only hear the thoughts racing through his mind. Go ahead and bite him. Snap his head off. I can find another human to raise my demons.”
“Jimmy.” Macey rose to her feet, “I know you’re in there. I’m going to help you.”
“By giving him a heart attack,” Ross said, still laughing. “His chest is about to explode.”
“Luke, please. You’re scaring him.”
“Trust her.” Alexis sat up, cradling her head in her hand. “She can do this.”
Luke blew out a hard breath and reluctantly stepped away from the man. Ross pulled himself up by the tree trunk, struggling to straighten and carry his weight on his feet. He leaned against the tree, squeezing his eyes shut as if the world were spinning.
Macey leaned in close to Luke. “I can catch him, but you can’t help me like this…as a wolf. Do you trust me?”
He held her gaze for a long moment. Then he looked at Ross, struggling to right himself. In answer to her question, he shifted to human form. “What do you need me to do?”
/> “Hold him still.”
“Finally, a fair fight.” Ross stumbled forward. “Man to man. Don’t let the injury fool you. I make this body strong.”
He hurled himself toward Luke with inhuman speed, planting his shoulder squarely in his stomach. Luke went down. Ross drew his arm back and punched him in the face.
“Jimmy!” Macey screamed. “Take control, Jimmy. You can do it.”
Luke caught the next punch in his hand and twisted Ross’s arm, throwing him to the ground. Ross jumped to his feet, but Luke tackled him, wrapping his arm around his neck. Alexis threw herself on top of Ross, pinning his legs to the ground.
“Do your thing, Macey, but make it fast. He’s strong.” Luke tightened his grip on his neck. Any more pressure, and it might snap.
Macey dropped to her knees and rested a hand on Jimmy’s head, gripping the crystal in her other hand. She closed her eyes and let the images fill her mind. Ross was a foreign energy inside Jimmy’s body, just like the energy she read in objects and buildings. Flashes of Ross’s life, the atrocities he’d committed, played through her mind like a movie. She saw it all—the assaults, the murders, the beatings poor Jimmy had endured at the hands of his own brother. Her insides twisted with nausea as the bloody scenes flashed behind her eyes.
“You can’t do this!” Ross started to tear away from Jimmy’s body, but Macey caught him this time.
She opened herself, allowing his energy to flow through her. “Ross, I’m banishing you from this dimension. You won’t hurt anyone ever again.” Her head spun. Vertigo threatened to pull her under, but she held on. Jimmy’s body fell slack as she took the sickening essence of the demon into herself and pushed it toward the crystal.
Roberta was right. She knew exactly what to do. With one final push, the demon’s energy left her body and filled the stone. It fell from her hands as she collapsed into Luke’s arms.
“Macey, are you okay?” Concern furrowed his brow as he stroked her face and held her.
Was she okay? Memories of the demon’s energy raking through her body made her shudder. She opened her mind to the energy in the air, but she no longer sensed the demon. His essence now resided in Roberta’s crystal.
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